A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Myresnipe, -snyp(e, n. Also: myrsnyp,-snap, miresnype. [Cf. ON. (poet.) mýrisnýþa. Also in the mod. dial.] The common snipe. To meet with a miresnipe, to meet with a misfortune (as in the later dial.). —(1) c1450-2 Howlat 213.
The martoune, the murcoke, the myresnype [B. myrsnyp] a1603 Anc. Prophecies 31.
A hurtcheoun … Hath marred the myrsnap in Minto Craiges ?1549 Monro W. Isles (1961) 59.
Ellan na naoisg, callit in English the Myresnyppis Ile 16.. Archbald in Macfarlane's Geog. Coll. III. 191.
Myresnipes, which is like a feldefare, called heatherbleet —(2) 1667 Wodrow Hist. (1721) I. App. 108.
Mr. Gabriel threatned them, and said they might meet with a miresnype if they would go away
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"Myresnipe n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/myresnipe>
